Rosmosmos Russia and NASA are preparing for a contract renewal to make space for each other’s astronauts on their spaceships. The Russian side has already selected four astronauts for the mission to reach the International Space Station aboard the Crew Dragon, the Russian news agency Interfax reported. The agreement is still in principle awaiting official confirmation.
The United States has relaunched human spaceflight from its soil since the spring of 2020 on vehicles from the US private company SpaceX. Earlier, after the use of space shuttles was suspended, American astronauts boarded the space station on chartered space in the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that had launched from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, for nine years.
According to Iho Moscow Radio, a NASA delegation discussed bilateral cooperation in Moscow on Wednesday. By the way, Dmitriy Rogozin, Rosmus, and Bill Nelson, the first man at NASA, had spoken to each other the day before. According to RIA Novostyi, the parties agreed to further enhance the safety of the space station crew, MTI reported.
The United States accused Russia on Monday of “irresponsibility” after twice-a-day space debris flew near the International Space Station, an hour and a half apart. The facility’s astronauts withdrew to the Soyuz MSZ-19 spacecraft and Crew Dragon, in preparation for a possible forced departure and return to Earth.